Saw this at the D.C. Sports Bog: Dan Steinberg’s post about ESPN’s Stuart Scott at the National Spelling Bee. Scott claims not to read sportsblogs, and states that he has absolutely no interest in reading about athletes personal lives. This will probably make the rounds of many other sportsblogs and will likely generate another round of hate toward Stuart Scott, but seeing as he doesn’t read the blogs anyway, he probably won’t care.
No doubt, when I peruse various sportsblogs, there is plenty of venom toward ESPN and its personalities; Scott has had his share thrown his way. Personally, I think he’s alright; he may try a little too hard to be hip, but this is what we get with SportsCenter nowadays. I agree with him about athletes personal lives; but I think that ship has sailed. The days of the media looking the other way at an athlete’s off-field transgressions has long since passed. In this “Entertainment Tonight,” reality-TV culture that we live in, every move any celebrity (and athletes are now included as celebrities) makes is worthy of breathless reporting. That doesn’t make it right; but that’s how it goes. Another recent example of this is the tabloid reporting of the alleged indiscretion of Alex Rodriguez in Toronto this week. In another time, this type of story would have never seen the light of day.
Somewhat related, but not quite of the same ilk is the recent hullabaloo over Allison Stokke, the high school girl now famous more for her looks than her talents as a pole vaulter. With her pictures spreading across the Internet like wildfire, she is gaining fame unlike any track athlete who has yet to win an Olympic gold medal, let alone compete in an Olympics. She would not be anywhere near as famous (nor rate a front page Washington Post story) if her fame had not outpaced her accomplishments. Her personal life has changed and not for the better. She certainly deserves better than a bunch of tasteless comments about her “hotness” or what people would like to do with, or to, her. It’s too late to ask for it, but perhaps some restraint is in order.
Maybe I should starting putting sexy pictures of male athletes up to attract a bigger female audience?
No doubt, in this day and age, that provactive stuff is what (helps) sells. This is the internet after all.
I am very much interested in the personal lives of athletes. Aren’t you though, I mean, really? Not the salacious stuff but the day in and day out kinda thing. I think so many people are.
Sports broadcasters are viewed from two different angles. If you are a woman, you are young and slim and pleasing to the eye. If you are a man, the older the better. Imagine the Swami being judged in that manner.
By the way, I have tried to get your link up on my site several times to no avail. I’m going to keep working on it. And thanks for putting mine up on yours.
Keep up the good work.
I agree with you about being interested in the personal lives of athletes as far as the day to day stuff. Normally that doesn’t make “news,” though. And your point about sportscasters is especially telling. I can’t count how many blogs I’ve seen that worship at the throne of Erin Andrews for her looks and not for the job she does (and for the thankless, sometimes needless job of sideline reporting, she does a good job).
But, as the WP story states, the internet makes it easy to build a non-story about a female athlete’s relative “hotness” spread much faster than it ever used to. That’s also true about rumors and innuendoes about athletes and celebrities as well.
Thanks for your comment and thanks for the compliment.
I interviewed Michele Tafoya, sideline reporter- adio personality, and she was wonderful to talk with! Very frank about the how thing. My story was for SET Magazine and it was about women working in sports…really very interesting. I think we’ve come a long way but the internet has surely taken us a step- maybe even five steps backwords.